India Innovation Index 2020: Karnataka tops among major states, Delhi tops among UT/ city states

India Innovation Index 2020: Karnataka retained its position as the most innovative major state in the country in the India Innovation Index 2020 released by NITI Aayog on January 20, 2021. 

Karnataka  scored 42.5, followed by Maharashtra at second place with a score of 38 and Tamil Nadu at third place with 37.91 score. Bihar was ranked the last in the index with 14.5 score.

Himachal Pradesh topped among the NE/ Hilly states with a score of 25.06, followed by Uttarakhand and Manipur, while Meghalaya was ranked last with 12.15 score. Delhi topped among the UT/ City States with a score of 46.60, followed by Chandigarh and Daman & Diu and Lakshadweep came last with 11.71 score.

The India Innovation Index was released by NITI Aayog Vice Chairman Dr Rajiv Kumar in a virtual event in the presence of NITI Aayog CEO Amitabh Kant and Member Dr VK Saraswat.  The first edition of the index was released in October 2019. 

During the launch, NITI Aayog Vice Chairman Dr Rajiv Kumar said that the findings of the index highlight that we are on the right track with states taking several measures to improve their innovation ecosystem in the spirit of Competitive Federalism.

The findings of #IndiaInnovationIndex2020 highlight that we are on the right track, with States taking several measures to improve their innovation ecosystem in the spirit of Competitive Federalism: #NITIAayog VC @RajivKumar1

Watch: https://t.co/7KZHalL88j pic.twitter.com/F4Q5oiCmru

— NITI Aayog (@NITIAayog) January 20, 2021

NITI Aayog CEO Amitabh Kant said that the index is a major step towards evaluating the national innovation ecosystem and its learnings can help in formulating strategies & devising efficient policy measures, at the State and National level.

The launch of #IndiaInnovationIndex2020 is a major step towards evaluating the national innovation ecosystem. The learnings for the index can help in formulating strategies & devising efficient policy measures, at the State and National level: @amitabhk87 https://t.co/7KZHam2JwT pic.twitter.com/r9Vv51Qluv

— NITI Aayog (@NITIAayog) January 20, 2021

He further continued by saying that innovation will play a key role in upholding the spirit of AatmaNirbhar Bharat by giving the required thrust through Competitive Federalism.

Innovation will play a key role in upholding the spirit of #AatmaNirbharBharat, by giving the required thrust through Competitive Federalism: #NITIAayog CEO @amitabhk87 at the launch of #IndiaInnovationIndex2020

Watch here: https://t.co/7KZHalL88j pic.twitter.com/SQwF7UCY6R

— NITI Aayog (@NITIAayog) January 20, 2021

Significance

The release of the second edition of the index demonstrates the centre's continued commitment towards transforming the country into an innovation-driven economy.

India Innovation Index 2020: Key Highlights 

• The index provides the methodology to assess the innovation capacities and performance of Indian states.

• Under the index, the states and union territories have been divided into 17 Major States, 10 North-East and Hill States and 9 City States and Union Territories for effectively comparing their performance. 

• The states and union territories have been ranked in two broad categories: outcome and governance. The index captures the trends and provides detailed analysis of the various factors that drive innovation at different levels-national, state, and district levels. 

• The framework of India Innovation Index 2020 consists of 36 indicators including hard data (32 indicators) and four composite indicators.

• The index framework was shaped post discussions with experts in the domain of index creation and innovation.  It measures innovation inputs through 'Five Enablers pillars' and 'Two Performance pillars': 

Five Enablers pillars: They capture elements of the state economy that act as inputs for the innovation environment.

a) Human Capital

b) Investment

c) Knowledge works

d) Business Environment

e) Safety and Legal Environment 

Two Performance pillars: They depict the performance.

a) Knowledge output

b) Knowledge diffusion

• Each pillar comprises relevant indicators that were carefully selected to ensure a fair and accurate analysis of their respective pillars. The indicators cover both macroeconomic (government) and microeconomic (private enterprise) aspects. 

India Innovation Index 2020: Rankings

India’s performance on the Global Innovation Index

Background

The India Innovation Index 2020 builds on previous year’s methodology by introducing more metrics and providing a holistic outlook of the Indian innovation ecosystem. 

The framework has been updated recently to include globally considered parameters for measuring innovation such as percentage of gross domestic product spent on research and development, while also retaining the parameters specific to the Indian economy.